Three Brothers: Remix
by OceansAlliteration
Summary: Adopted from Jinx777. As the ASL brothers stood on the hill watching the Grey Terminal burn along with all the people inside, they realised that they would never be the same. It was also at that moment that Luffy decided to show his brothers his secret stash of food, which consisted of three very odd fruits. Different DF Luffy, DF Sabo, and all three set out together.
1. Three Logia

New Authors Note:

Hi! So I wanted to start this off by saying how much I love the original work by Jinx777. Their story captured my attention, and I really wish they could have stuck around to finish it (or at least let us know what would have come next).

Sadly, as is written below, they felt the need to start over with their writing. Lucky for me (and maybe for you) they gave blanket permission to continue their stories, or make new ones based on them.

It is my intent to try my hand at picking up where Jinx777 left off with this story. Three Brothers is a tale I really think could use some love, and I want to give it that love.

I will be editing, adding necessary elements, and changing a few plot points (to give the story more consistency and get it in line with canon). That said, I do want to try and leave the bulk of this story as it was originally written up to chapter 8. After that I will start filling in the rest of this story with my own crazy ideas.

With the ASL trio together, and Logia Devil Fruits in play, this story is going to get wild. I only hope I can do the original story justice and do right by Jinx777.

Permission and Farewell from Jinx777:

ok, so I am just going to be straight here. after much thinking, I have decided to stop using this account and make a fresh start on this site with a new one. I will not tell anyone the name of this new account and the only reason I am not closing this one completely is-

1\. I don't actually know how.

2\. people still like the stories I posted.

as of this point all my fics are up for adoption/whatever. if you want to continue them go ahead, if you want to make your own version go for it.

I am sorry to all those that have supported me over the years I have been writing on this site and who still read my fic's, but I feel like I just need a fresh start with no attachments to what I have written in the passed.

thank you all for your support, and at least under this name, Goodbye.

Jinx777

Original Authors Note:

So I've been reading a lot of One Piece Fanfiction at the moment, and it put this idea in my head. Few things to clear up though before you read.

Luffy did not have a Devil Fruit before he met Ace and Sabo, the story is mostly the same put to this point except for that. Sabo didn't try and sail away and was able to escape from the city and meet up with Ace and Luffy.

Ace will still have the Flame Flame Fruit, but Luffy will have a different Devil Fruit and Sabo will be getting one too, though I am not sure it has come up in the series before this point. All three will be Logia, and you will find out what they are in this chapter.

XXX

Disclaimer: I own nothing:(

New Disclaimer: I don't own anything either. More's the pity.

XXX

Chapter 1- Three Logia

XXX

They could only look out at the scene before them with wide, horrified eyes and open mouths. Standing on top of a hill at the edge of the forest, the three brothers had a perfect view as the fire slowly burned its way through the Grey Terminal.

But it was not only the view they were witness to. Even from where they stood, they were able to hear the screams. People - whose only real crime was being poor in the eyes of the nobility - crying out in pain and desperation as they were burned alive, along with the junk they lived and scavenged in. In the distance the three could hear the faint pops of gunfire, and the pleading cries of those who had tried to escape to the city as they were gunned down by the guards at the gate.

Sabo, his blonde hair dirty with soot and blood, could only look on with a mixture of guilt and horror at what his own people had done. His grip on the pipe in his hand tightened, turning his knuckles white as small choking sounds escaped his throat. The burn on the left side of his face - that he had gotten while escaping the fire with his brothers - was screaming in pain. But he barely even registered it as the tragedy before him continued to play out.

"How…" the blonde managed to choke out past gritted teeth, "how can those _monsters_ do something like this…" Sabo trailed off.

Ace stood silently, ashes in his hair and grime streaked across his face, his expression was one of pure rage. His fists were balled tightly, blood welling up where his fingernails dug into his palms. He shook with emotion, forcing down his desire to run back to the burning Grey Terminal. To try and help the people who had practically raised him alongside Dadan and the bandits.

Finally the raven haired boy snarled, "Fucking _bastards…"_ Sabo just nodded his head, lips thinning and blue eyes blazing with the light of the fire.

"This is _wrong_." Sabo said, voice low and flat. He didn't say anything more after that, there was nothing else he _could_ say.

Beside them, Luffy - who was always so positive and cheerful - found himself struck speechless and horrified at the sight in front of him. Silent tears fell from his eyes, memories of the adventures he and his brothers had had in the now-burning trash heap played behind his blank gaze.

Unable to stop, he thought of the kind old woman who fed him, Ace, and Sabo from her own plate in the winter. Even though there wasn't really enough food to go around. Of the kids he and his brothers fought every so often over little treasures, or over scrap heaps they had yet to plunder, or just for the hell of it. He thought of the drunk old men who told them stories about far off islands, of the young girl who sometimes bought herbs from him and his brothers, of the lady who had just had her baby, of the older boy who had almost gotten enough berri together to move into the city proper.

Luffy cried for the kind souls who took care of each other, and who had cared for three strange boys from the other side of the island. His mind kept circling back to a single question as his hands hung limply at his sides.

' _Why?'_

It was a question he and his brothers would ask themselves for years, whenever they thought of this night. When they woke from nightmares, when they saw the cruelty humanity was capable of dispensing, when they felt helpless. It was a question that would never truly leave them. One they had been forced to ask themselves _far_ too soon.

The three stood there watching the fires burn until the first faint rays of pre-dawn light crested over the horizon. They refused to leave until the last ember was cold and the screams fell silent. In their minds, it was the least they could do. Even if they weren't able to help save anyone, the people of Grey Terminal at least deserved to have someone acknowledge their last moments.

When the last of the fires finally burned out Ace slowly turned his back to what was once the Grey Terminal.

"Come on, we're going back to the treehouse." He said, before laying a hand on each of his brother's shoulders and pulling them away.

Silently, the three boys started the long walk back to their treehouse.

XXX

Luffy and Ace bandaged Sabo's burn carefully, rubbing some herbs they had gathered before that day into it, making sure it wouldn't get infected while healing. The bandage was covering his left eye, so for the moment Sabo only had the right one available to glare out at the world. His furious expression probably would have looked more intimidating had the white bandages not obscured half of it.

It was clear to the three of them, even with their limited medical knowledge, that the burn would leave a scar. But Sabo didn't care about that. For the rest of his life it would serve as a reminder of what had happened that day. It was a way to make sure he never forgot what _Nobles_ were capable of.

After he finished bandaging his blonde brother's face, and made sure Luffy didn't have any injuries they had missed, Ace had moved to lean over the railing that looked out over the forest with his back to them. In the cold light of dawn he could still make out the smoke rising in the distance. The smell of it still clung to the three boys' skin and hair, the acrid scent having followed them all the way back to their little sanctuary.

Luffy sat in a corner in silence, having not uttered a word since they had gotten back. Both Ace and Sabo knew, in a detached kind of way, that Luffy was in shock. Neither of them knew how to help their youngest brother though. They themselves were still processing what they'd seen. Trying to make some kind of sense out of the atrocity they had been witness to. And the guilt they felt was finally starting to settle in, eating at them like they had swallowed acid.

Though they were, in truth, only three or four years older than him, Luffy had always seemed much younger in their eyes. It made both of them feel like they needed to look after the little idiot. As his older brothers, they saw it as their job to protect him…but both knew that they had failed in that duty. Luffy should never have seen what had happened that night, never heard the screams of the dying, or smelt the stench of burning junk and human flesh mixed together. None of them should have.

Both older boys were actually very worried about what this would do to their younger brother. They wondered if he would still be the innocent little boy that declared, with such determination, that he would be the King of the Pirates.

After everything that happened, it was probably a good thing neither Ace nor Sabo actually _wanted_ to be the Pirate King. They both still wanted to be pirates, of course. But Ace never wanted to be the _King_ because he hated his father, and the thought of sharing _that man's_ title made him burn inside. Sabo simply saw being a pirate as his path to freedom, a way to escape his life as a Noble child and be truly free.

They both wanted to support their little brother and his dream. It was only now, when they weren't sure if Luffy would be alright, they realized how much they would do to see it come true. To see his smile again, and cheer him on in his victory. Without a word being spoken, they both resolved to help their brother achieve his dream, no matter what.

For the most part, Luffy himself was dead to the world around him. The screams of the dying echoed endlessly in his mind, and his eyes still stung with tears. He could still feel the heat, smell the acrid smoke, and his ragged breathing betrayed the ash he had inhaled still coating his lungs. Everything that had happened was on a constant loop inside his head, replaying over and over again.

It was as this was happening, though, that Luffy started to understand something. He had been looking at the world through a pair of rose tinted glasses. Thinking everything was black and white and made sense. But the truth was the world was black, with an endless sea of grey, leading to a few spots of white in the distance. Lifting his head just slightly, Luffy caught sight of his brothers.

' _Maybe...there are a_ few _white spots nearby…'_ He thought, and something seemed to spark in his dark eyes. His face hardening, Luffy slowly got to his feet and moved over to the loose floorboard in the middle of the treehouse. It was where he kept his secret food stash, at least, that was what he had told his brothers it was. In actuality, the hiding spot held his second most important treasure.

His movement got the attention of both Sabo and Ace, who watched silently as he moved the board away and reached down to pull out an old wooden chest. It wasn't very big, the brass fittings on it looked old and rusted, but the lock on it was new and strong. Slowly moving to stand behind him, they watched as he pulled a key from a string around his neck that they had never noticed before, and opened the chest.

Inside sat three oddly shaped and coloured fruits, laying side by side.

The one on the right looked like a white orange, with bluish grey swirls covering it. The one on the left looked like a heart shaped apple, with what seemed to be a pattern of flames running up its surface, and a curled stalk. The last fruit sat in the middle. It was simple, round, and it had black and purple bumps covering its surface, making it hard to tell what kind of fruit it was originally.

Both Ace's and Sabo's eyes widened in shock at the sight of them. Both boys knew exactly what they were, yet they were unable to comprehend the fact that _Luffy_ had, not only found, but _hidden_ three Devil Fruits. Without even knowing what power they held, each one alone would be worth thirty times what they had been able to gather before Bluejam and his crew came along. And, depending on what kind they were, it could be even more than that.

Yet, as they stared at the three fruits, the thought of selling them never even crossed the three brother's minds. Slowly reaching out and taking one each, with no protest from Luffy, Ace and Sabo sat on either side of him with their eyes glued to the cursed fruits. Ace was now holding the red fruit, and Sabo the white and grey, leaving Luffy to claim the black and purple.

Tearing his eyes away from the fruit now in his hands, Ace turned to Luffy, his face still a mask of shock.

"Luffy…where did you find these?"

Luffy's eyes never moved from his fruit, but he did answer in a slightly flat tone.

"I found the red one when I was little, I was fishing and it caught on my hook. The white one I found in the forest about a month ago, it was stuck between some roots and I yanked it out. This one…I only found it two days ago…in the Grey Terminal. There were two guys fighting over it and I stole it when they weren't looking…"

By this point Sabo was looking at Luffy, his face smooth and hard as stone.

"Luffy…do you know what these are?"

"Yeah I know, they're my treasure. I was going to give each of you one when you set out on your pirate journey…but now…after…."

He didn't finish, but then again he didn't need to.

Finally looking up at his brothers, Luffy gave them both a pleading look, unshed tears in the corners of his eyes, begging them to tell him what to do. Ace and Sabo shared a look before nodding to each other and standing up, pulling Luffy up with them. Both boys wore stony expressions on their faces.

Ace thrust the hand holding his fruit into the middle of their little circle, followed by Sabo, and a moment later Luffy did the same. Then Ace spoke.

"From this day onward, we stick together. None of us leaves this island unless we all go, even when we reach 17…agreed?"

"…agreed." Sabo nodded firmly.

"…yeah." Luffy gave a similar decisive nod.

All of them took a deep breath before each brought the fruit to their mouth and, as one, all three shoved them in whole. The effects were almost immediate, though in very different ways.

Ace felt like he had just shoved a handful of bitter tasting ashes mixed with smouldering coals into his mouth. The flavor almost seemed to burn his mouth and throat as he ate. Underneath the heat he could taste the overwhelming flavor of rot. It took all his willpower to swallow, and even more to stop himself from throwing it right back up.

Then, the heat from the fruit started to spread throughout the rest of his body. It felt like it was getting hotter and hotter as it moved from his stomach to his arms and legs, before settling in his chest like the world's worst case of heartburn. It felt like he was burning up from the inside out. Then, just before a scream erupted from his throat, it stopped. The heat was still there, burning hot in his chest, but now it just felt…right, like it was a part of him.

He failed to notice that his body was now covered in small flickering flames. Tiny fires that didn't just emerge from his skin, but that _were_ his skin. Even the tips of his hair were alight, fires no bigger than a candle flame dancing around his head in something approaching a halo.

Sabo's fruit tasted like warm, watery mud mixed with shit. The texture made him think of the time Ace had hit him in the face with a water balloon and it went in his mouth, rubbery and chewy. The juice inside it was burning hot, to the point it felt like it was evaporating in his mouth before shooting down his throat, making his eyes water. He could feel it as the fruit travelled down his throat and hit his stomach.

The moment it did the fruits boiling heat rushed through him like it was replacing his very blood, Sabo felt his body become weightless, and the air around him felt so damp and heavy it nearly hurt to breathe. Just when he felt like he was going to pass out, it stopped. He still felt warm and weightless, the air was still heavy and damp in his lungs, but not in a bad way anymore.

Like Ace, he didn't notice what was going on around him as he tried to come to grips with the changes his body was forced to undergo. He was oblivious as steam started shooting out of his nose and ears with a high pitched whistle like a kettle. His whole body became slightly hazy, rippling as if he were a mirage that would disappear any moment, and the floor under his feet grew damp with condensation.

For Luffy, the moment the fruit entered his mouth he wanted to spit it out, and that was not something he had ever wanted to do before. The fruit was the most awful thing he had ever eaten in his life! But Luffy had never spat out food before, and he'd be damned if he would spit it out now.

Unlike Ace and Sabo's fruits, Luffy's fruit felt cold as its powers raced through him. Really though, _cold_ wasn't enough to describe the feeling that filled him as he chewed. It was like he was trying to eat an abyss, large and endless, yet freezing and empty at the same time. It was like he was eating nothing and everything all at once, like a solid piece of void sliding down his throat.

The moment the fruit hit his stomach Luffy felt himself _become_ that abyss. His body felt hollow, as though a yawning black pit had just come into existence inside him. He felt utterly empty. There was no other way to describe it, no other words. It wasn't an emotional emptiness, nor a physical one either. Luffy simply _was_ an endless, limitless, expanse of _nothing_.

Like his brothers, Luffy's body responded to the fruits power. His short hair turned to tendrils of smoke-like shadows that moved as if blown about by an unseen wind. His eyes became pits of void, two black holes that seemed to swallow all the light in the room.

All over his body strange smoke appeared in patches, replacing his skin. Looking directly at the smoke was like looking at a patch of black abyss. No light reflected off of it. The early morning sunshine actually seemed to be _absorbed_ by the darkness. Because of that, it looked far more two-dimensional than anything rightly should. Anybody looking at Luffy in that moment would have said he was terrifying, like a demon surrounded by shadows and void.

When the three finally did take notice of each other, each boy felt his eyes widen at the sight of the others.

"AAHH!"

Thud!

This was followed by each of them screaming in shock, before all three brothers fell backward and fainted.

XXX

After waking up, and recovering from fainting _again_ when they each saw their own body, the three brothers sat in a circle in the middle of the treehouse to work through what was happening to them.

Ace decided to go first, inwardly thankful that the flames sprouting from his body hadn't set the tree on fire yet, even though he couldn't get them to go away. In the back of his mind, Ace worried about what could happen if he didn't get control of his abilities soon.

Hadn't they just watched the kind of destruction fire could create if it burned unchecked? His brother was permanently scarred by fire. His other brother was probably traumatized because of it. More than anything, Ace worried that his precious brothers would be afraid of him because of his new powers. If that happened...Ace didn't know what he would do. But he knew it wouldn't be good.

Shaking away his dark inner thoughts, the freckled boy spoke up.

"I feel like I'm on fire, but it doesn't hurt. My body is…different, I feel like I'm not solid anymore."

At his words both Sabo and Luffy nodded, they both felt the same. Then the blonde of the group chimed in.

"I'm the same, it almost feels like I'm boiling. I feel lighter than air too…wait no, it's more like I _am_ air!" The expression on his face was both excited and anxious.

The lightness in his body made him feel like he could do anything, go anywhere, it felt like nothing could tether him if he didn't allow it. The freedom of that feeling was amazing. But, no matter how incredible he felt, Sabo couldn't help but worry that he would get blown away by a stray breeze. If that happened, he might never find his way back to his brothers. And that thought scared him more than anything else ever had.

They both turned to look at Luffy, who was now frowning slightly as he wrapped his arms around his legs. The youngest of the trio shivered slightly, like he couldn't get warm, despite the balmy morning air filtering into the treehouse. Luffy wasn't afraid of or excited about his new power. He was using all of his focus, limited though it was, to mentally 'poke' at the void inside of him. It was a vast and cold space, there was nothing inside it at all. Just darkness.

"I'm cold and…empty. I feel like my insides are huge and go on forever, but I'm not hungry." Luffy said. His words were followed by another shiver, causing Sabo and Ace to share a worried look, before Ace spoke again.

"I think we just ate some very weird Devil Fruits. I'm pretty sure they turned us _into_ different elements. If we can figure out how to work our powers we could be really strong! Nothing could touch us!" By the end Ace was sporting a determined frown, already thinking of the possibilities and chances their abilities would give them.

Sabo nodded his head in agreement, also having thought that. As he moved though, his head seemed to lose shape turning into a billow of steam, and it only began reforming when he stopped moving. Ace and Luffy's eyes bugged out, and Sabo had a perplexed look on his face once it reformed.

"Well that felt weird," he started, face growing thoughtful. "Felt like I was looking in every direction at once for a second. Made me kinda dizzy actually." He raised his hand to the side of his head and made a circular motion to emphasize his point. When he did though, his arm turned to steam, just like his head had.

Sabo thrust his arm in front of himself quickly, and watched in fascination as the limb reformed. Seeing this, Luffy and Ace looked at their own arms for a moment. Then they started slowly waving their arms around in front of them, using small circular motions. The faster they moved, the more their arms lost their shape and blurred into their respective elements.

That activity indirectly answered a few questions, but raised even more for the three. To Ace and Sabo, it was obvious that they were now made out of Fire and Steam, respectively. But none of them knew what to make of the black, smokey, substance that Luffy's arm had become.

Frowning slightly, Ace reached over and tried to grab Luffy's wrist, but his hand passed right through the black smoke. The strange thing wasn't that he couldn't touch Luffy. He'd been expecting that. It was the fact that the moment his hand came into contact with the black smoke, the rest of his body returned to normal, only to catch fire again when he pulled away.

Having seen this, Sabo tried to touch Luffy's arm, and the same thing to happened to him. As his hand passed through the black substance, he briefly solidified before returning to his more vaporous form once he lost contact.

"Weird, me and Sabo are clearly made of fire and steam now. But I don't know _what_ the heck Lu is made of. When I tried to touch you I felt solid again." Ace mused, hand on his chin while he studied the smoke still rising from Luffy's skin.

Sabo nodded and added, "Same here. Whatever Lu is made of must be pretty unique though. I hope we figure out what it is soon. Otherwise we could be stuck here all day!" His exasperated sigh - which released a puff of hot steam in front of him - said just how much he wanted _that_ to happen.

Luffy's face brightened at that, then he turned around and reached for the chest. He rummaged around inside it for a moment, trying to grab something in the bottom. It took him a couple tries - his hands refusing to stay solid made picking things up hard - but eventually he got a good grip on it and lifted it out. Much to the older boys surprise, the item he retrieved was a book. Large, leatherbound, and thick, it was definitely not something the youngest brother would normally keep around.

"Hey, maybe this will help?" Luffy asked. "I found it at the Grey Terminal a few weeks back. I don't know what it means, but it has pictures of mystery fruits in it. Just like the ones we ate!" he grinned widely, his solid black eyes unintentionally lending the expression a menacing air.

Both older boys sat blinking for a moment before Sabo - the only one of the three who was able to read - took the book. His eyes widened at the title embossed on the cover, and his hands became intangible causing the book to hit the wooden floor with a loud 'Thud!'

There, on the front cover, the title 'Encyclopaedia of Know Devil Fruits' was stamped in peeling gold paint.

Sabo blinked once more. Then his face seemed to grow three times its normal size and he started yelling at Luffy.

"Why didn't you show me this before we ate the fruits! You Moron!" So saying, the steam-boy attempted to knock his idiot of a little brother over the head. The attempt failed when his fist passed through his brothers thick skull harmlessly. But it was the thought that counted.

Quickly calming down - and pointedly ignoring Ace laughing at the terrified expression on Luffy's face - Sabo made his hands solid and started flipping through the book in search of the fruits they had just eaten. He quickly found both his and Ace's fruits, confirming that they were the Logia for Fire and Steam respectively. It took a lot longer to find Luffy's. The fruit, it turned out, was right near the very back of the book.

Clearing his throat to get his siblings attention, Sabo started reading out the page that went with the picture.

"Dark Dark Fruit, Logia. Turns the eater into darkness itself. Previous users have been reported to have control over darkness, minor control over shadows, and even a measure of control over gravitational forces. The fruit has also been rumoured to...completely negate the powers of other Devil Fruits through touch…"

While both Sabo and Ace were now staring at Luffy in disbelief, the boy himself could only blink in confusion as he started picking his nose.

"Ne,Sabo? What's that gravi-thing the book mentioned? And what's a neg-gate?"

Shaking his head, Sabo straightened his back and quickly went into 'teacher mode,' which was something he had developed shortly after meeting Ace and Luffy. It helped when he needed to explain things to them, a regular occurrence as they never went to school and had never had anyone else to teach them.

He tried to keep the lesson as straightforward as possible. Knowing Luffy, he probably only heard half of it anyway, so simple was the best way to go.

"Its _gravity_ and _negate,_ Luffy. Gravity is the force that pulls people and objects toward the ground, and sometimes toward other things. Negate means to cancel something out. Basically, the books says you can stop other people from using their Devil Fruit powers by touching them."

The youngest of the three boy's eyes widened at this news, stars appearing in them as a large grin crossed his lips.

"Really? That's so COOL! Shishishishi!"

Seeing Luffy finally returning to his usual, happy self, took away almost all of the tension that had been building up between the three. Neither Ace nor Sabo could keep the grins off of their own faces. Before long, Sabo and Ace both started to laugh along with their younger brother.

When they finally calmed down, the three once again sat in a circle facing each other. Clearing his throat Ace started talking again, though in a much lighter tone than before.

"We need to figure out how to control our powers. You know, train and stuff to get stronger."

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered, pumping a fist in the air. He was raring to get started and see just what he could do.

Both older boys simply smiled at Luffy's excited yell before turning to face each other. They both knew Luffy probably wouldn't be much help with working out ways to train.

Sabo, being the brains of the trio, took a moment to think. His eyes moved over both his brothers, before glancing down his own unstable body.

"Yeah, you're right, but I think the first thing we need to do is learn how to be solid again. Maybe we just need to concentrate, you know _think_ ourselves solid…"

Deciding it was worth a try Ace and Sabo both concentrated as hard as they could on being solid. It only took about fifteen minutes to regain their normal forms, and another thirty to get Luffy to listen and do what they said. The three then spent the next hour or so practising shifting their bodies from solid, to elemental, and back again.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as hard as they thought it would be once they got the basics down. Their powers knew what they wanted to do and acted to follow their commands without much fuss. It was even more surprising when Luffy was the first to get full control over the change from one form to another. He was quickly followed by Sabo, with Ace coming in last much to the fire-boys displeasure.

They spent another two hours turning different parts of their bodies into their respective elements, making sure they could control their powers completely. Ace was the first to master changing only one part of his body at a time into his element. He took great pleasure in wagging his fiery fingers at the other two, a smug smirk on his lips while he poked fun at his brothers. With that kind of motivation it was Luffy who figured it out second, he was able to change any part of his body into a void at a moments notice.

Sabo took the longest to work it out, his body didn't want to change just one part of itself to steam. But eventually he figure out that he had to make his body into steam so thick it supported him fully. By the time he managed to make his legs steam, while keeping his upper body solid, a large pool of water was starting to form underneath him.

The three continued to practise with their powers for the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon. Over the course of the day they learned a lot about their abilities. One of the most important things they learned was the fact that their emotions could affect their control.

This was proven by Ace when he ended up bursting into flames after he got mad at Luffy for stealing his lunch. And then by Sabo when he grew so frustrated he literally burst into a cloud of steam. It was so hot it would have given Ace and Luffy severe burns had they not transformed into their elements in time. Luffy got hungry around lunchtime and his gravitational pull almost tore down a whole wall of the treehouse before he got a hold of himself. The brothers knew that they would need to keep themselves in check if they didn't want to hurt each other or destroy things by accident.

Their next discovery was all thanks to Luffy. None of them expected what happened when he started bragging about how his punch was stronger than a bullet in his usual brash and excitable manner. The punch he threw to emphasize his point sent a ball of darkness shaped like his fist across the room, destroying several branches outside the treehouse.

This lead to the three boys creating their first attacks by practicing sending out simple, fist-shaped, balls of their element which acted like a punch. It also proved to the three just how different each of their powers acted compared to the other two.

Ace had little trouble forming the ball and sending it out. But it had set a section of the tree on fire, leaving the three boys scrambling to put it out before it spread. It reminded Ace just how dangerous his fire could be. A thoughtless action on his part nearly destroyed their home, and Ace knew he couldn't live with himself if he accidentally hurt one of his brothers.

And remembering the haunted look on Luffy's face from when they were putting out his fires, Ace suspected he already had hurt his little brother in a sense. And that knowledge tore him up inside like he'd downed a bag of nails. Ace resolved to practice hard with his powers and master them. And also to not practice around any trees for awhile.

Sabo had the most difficulty with sending out an attack. When he first tried it his attack simply dispersed into the air, leaving nothing but a slight wet patch on the floor. His next attempts all met with the same fate, and Sabo's frustration was made quite clear by the steam shooting out of his ears. It wasn't until he figured out he needed to _compress_ his steam that he was able to launch an attack like his brothers. It made him realise that he would need to use his brain more than the other two in order to utilize his Devil Fruit to its fullest potential.

Luffy had no problems with creating balls of darkness to send out, his fist shaped attacks did plenty of damage to the tree branches they were aimed at. A misfired attack that hit Sabo even confirmed the spectral attacks had a surprising amount of weight behind them. It was when Luffy started trying to make the attacks _bigger_ that he ran into a problem.

His attacks each had their own field of gravity, which was why they did so much damage. But when that field increased in size, it started to drag things towards it, even as it was drawn toward the target it was aimed at. They came by that information the hard way, when Luffy created a globe of darkness that was about the size of his head. When he released it, the attack managed to destroy not only the tree branches he'd aimed at, but also the window, part of the wall, and one empty crate that the attack had flown over.

The two older boys decided then and there that Luffy was _not_ allowed to train with his Devil Fruit if Ace or Sabo weren't with him. His power had _far_ too much potential for collateral damage. Visions of Luffy accidentally sucking half the forest into a void danced in the older boys heads as they forced Luffy to promise not to use his powers without one of them there. Luffy turned the tables on them though, when he demanded the same from them.

With some grumbling from all parties, it was agreed that none of them would practise with their abilities unless one or both of the others was with them to help if things went wrong. It was also agreed that they would never train in the treehouse. They still needed a place to live after all.

XXX

One Month Later

XXX

The three brothers were running through the forest, all of them using their powers to help them move through the dense trees and over uneven ground. Their afternoon sprints were a training exercise Sabo had come up with to help them with their control. And it was something for them to do together.

Ace and Sabo had even turned it into a sort of game to keep Luffy interested in it. The older boys had made the training challenge a simple one. The goal was to get from the treehouse to the edge of the forest as fast as possible, without killing anything, and using whatever means the three imaginative boys could think up.

This might have been an easy race for the three, had it not been for the varied, large, and dangerous animals that roamed among the trees looking for their next meal. Lucky for them, they had their new powers to defend against the hungry predators. And those skills were even more essential for this particular game, where the point of it all was to get better at evading attacks and moving over rough terrain.

Ace was using his fire to propel him in short bursts between the trees, and sometimes through the air itself. He couldn't actually fly, at least not yet, but he could use it to slow his decent or increase his jumping height and distance. His method of travel had the added benefit of scaring off any would be attackers.

Jumping from a high root, he kicked out a burst of flames to give himself an extra push. Ace didn't hesitate for a second when his feet hit the ground again, he simply kept running and jumping between the tall tree trunks.

"Nice work avoiding the tree hot-head!" Sabo yelled, looking over his shoulder for a brief second at Ace. "Keep it up though! If you set the forest on fire again, _you're_ the one who has to get water from the river!"

Ace just frowned up at his blonde brother, and then picked up his pace. After practicing for almost a month, he had gotten very good at avoiding the trees, having burst into flames more than once after hitting them. Every time it happened, he and his brothers had to scramble to make sure he didn't start a forest fire.

"I haven't hit a tree in ages! And I am not going to get water from the river without help!" He yelled.

"Well I'm not helping you flame-brain!" Sabo called back. "Get Luffy to help you if you're that much of a wimp!"

Sabo actually was flying, though it was very shaky and he still needed to land regularly. His body being weightless made floating through the air simple, the hard part was moving around once he was up. His solution to this was releasing his steam from different parts of his body in order to propel him in the direction he wanted to go. But it was a skill he had only just started training a week ago, and it was clear he still needed to work on it.

Having overheard his brothers conversation, Luffy cut in.

"Ne? No way! I don't wanna help Ace carry a bunch of water! Just don't hit a tree!" He yelled, before he bounded through the shadow of a large boulder.

Luffy's preferred method of transportation was running through the shadows the forest created. Appearing from them, seemingly at random, before disappearing once more. He was the fastest of the three, but not by much, and only because Sabo was still learning how to fly.

"I just told you, I haven't hit a tree in forever! I'm not going to hit one now!" Ace shouted after his brothers. Then he leaped from another root and narrowly missed hitting a large tree trunk, which set Luffy and Sabo to snickering at him. Ace just scowled in response and pushed himself to run faster.

Sabo and Luffy were so busy laughing at Ace, they didn't notice when two things came to block their path. The blonde boy was thrown wildly off course by a flock of parrots that flew in front of and through him. He ended up flipping top-over-teakettle, and right into the trunk of a nearby tree, when he became partially solid in his surprise. Luffy failed to see the brightly lit clearing ahead of him when he dove out of another shadow, thus he managed a spectacular face-plant into the dirt.

Clutching his sides, laughing loudly, Ace pointed at his brothers as he said, "See?! Not so easy now is it!"

The minor brawl that broke out after that was pretty much a foregone conclusion.

Truly though, all three of them were naturals, taking to their respective elements perfectly.

Ace, with his wild nature and short temper, found his Fire a perfect fit.

Sabo, who always used his brain and couldn't be caught and tied down, was at home with his Steam.

Luffy, always hungry and relying on his instincts to get him through, found the more…odd properties of Darkness very fitting.

In fact it seemed Luffy had taken to his new abilities like a fish to water. He excelled at using his instincts and natural denseness to take his understanding of his powers to a higher level then either Sabo or Ace had been able to in the time since they had eaten the Devil Fruits.

Sabo and Ace knew that Luffy was, at least in terms of pure power, stronger than both of them now. Between his ability to cancel out their own powers, and his ability to suck anything and everything into a space of seemingly infinite darkness he had found inside himself, neither would really be able to stop him. It was only their own skill and experience that kept them ahead of him, making it so that Luffy still had yet to beat either in a sparring match.

Sabo still carried his pipe as a weapon, trying to find ways to use it with his steam for combat. He had found it was easier and faster to compress steam when it was being pushed into a confined space, and his pipe was the perfect tool for the job. Ace found he preferred using pure fire attacks, but as a precaution he had taken to carrying a small knife strapped to his lower back. And he hardly ever took it out expect when he needed it for hunting. Luffy was the same as always and refused to use a weapon. The difference was that, with his powers, he didn't _need_ one.

Over the last month the three had also been training their combat abilities by hunting the giant animals in the jungle. Compared to how things were before they ate the Devil Fruits, hunting now seemed almost too easy. Before, it would take all three of them working together just to run away from a giant tiger. And even then it would be close.

Now, each boy alone could take on as many as they wanted without getting a scratch on them. Having a body not made out of flesh and blood helped a lot, so they couldn't actually get hurt while doing that kind of training anyway. It was mostly to work on their attacks and endurance. And the accelerated healing that came with their elemental bodies was quite useful as well when they _did_ get injured.

The burn on Sabo's face had healed almost instantly after he ate the Steam Steam Fruit. Though it had still left a large scar covering the left side of his face over his eye. He was actually lucky he hadn't lost it or suffered more severe damage. And though the scar was very visible, after seeing himself in the mirror Sabo had simply grinned and declared that it looked 'badass.'

Ace and Luffy had also made several trips into Goa Kingdom in the time since the Grey Terminal was burned. Sabo refused to set a single foot within its walls again, and Ace and Luffy didn't press him.

They had wanted to see if any of the people even _cared_ about what the Nobles had done after the Celestial Dragon left. What they found within the city's walls made them sick to their stomachs. While the regular citizens of Goa acknowledged it as a tragedy, the Nobles didn't even seem to notice there was any difference.

They were just going about their daily lives as if nothing had happened, once again throwing all their garbage away into the Grey Terminal. By the end of the month it was already well on its way to returning to its former size. People who had nowhere else to go returned to live and scavenge in the Noble's filth, even after what had happened during the fire.

When they had told Sabo what they had seen, he didn't seem at all surprised.

The moment Luffy gained enough skill to spy on the city through the shadows, the three brothers stopped going into the city proper altogether. Though Luffy would sneak in from time to time, foregoing his powers in order to train, and he made a point of stealing food right off the Nobles tables. Truly, Luffy saw more of Goa than either of his brothers with his sporadic training trips and more regular spy missions.

And though the three would like to forget about the Kingdom, the reason they didn't was simple. They could not forgive the Nobles for what they had done.

Sabo warned his brothers that, because it had worked once, the Nobles might decide to burn the Grey Terminal again. Which was why he had Luffy listening out for any mention of such plans, or if another Celestial Dragon would be making an appearance.

The three boys were determined not to let something so horrific happen again. And so they patiently prepared for the day they would burn the city down with the Nobles, and everyone who had let what happened happen, trapped inside it.

Though Sabo insisted they should take as much time to train as possible before acting on their plans. Because the moment they attacked, the World Government would be after them. Until that day came Sabo planned out every possible step they could take, every way they could get revenge for the people that had died so the Nobles could look good.

The day they destroyed Goa Kingdom, would be the day their adventure began.

XXX

New Authors Note:

This took longer than I thought it would. But I did most of my editing on my phone so I'd say I did pretty well. I had wanted to post this right after Christmas, as a kind of gift to everybody who liked the original version of this, but...

I got busy and shit happened. So...Here's a New Years present instead!

Let me know what you guys think! I love hearing your thoughts.

Original Authors Note:

Hope you like the chapter.

Luffy has now eaten the Dark Dark Fruit (sorry Blackbeard :P), and Sabo ate the Steam Steam Fruit (which to my knowledge is something I came up with on the spot, it seemed to fit his steampunck stile). Ace is still a fire man.

They will not be setting off for the Grand Line until Luffy turns 17, but that doesn't mean they will not be exploring the four sea's they are currently in. They will be Co-Captains.

Some may have also noticed that the three's powers are also almost the polar opposites of the admirals, Fire-Ice, Dark-Light and Steam-Magma. I know the last one isn't really a very good fit, but I honestly think that a Water Water Fruit would make no sense considering Devil Fruit eaters can't move in water so I decided to go with steam instead.

Let me know what you think :)


	2. TheDay

New Authors Note:

Sorry its taken so long for me to update! Life has been busy for me lately (T_T)

So, I have adjusted the ages a tad in this chapter. Luffy is canonically three years younger than Sabo and Ace are (and I firmly believe Sabo is the middle child with a birthday after Ace's). Thus in the first chapter Sabo and Ace would have been 10 (maybe they were actually 11 in canon but I am taking liberties) and Luffy would have been 7. Thus, in this chapter Ace and Sabo would be 15 and Luffy would be 12.

I also want to address something regarding the Dark Dark Fruit and its function here. The original author treated the Fruit like it was a standard Logia which gives its user the ability to turn into their element, control their element, and produce their element from their body. We know from canon that this is not the case with the Dark Dark Fruit for several reasons. (And I recommend looking it up on the Wikia for elaboration as I don't want this author's note to be longer than it has to.)

That said, even though the way the Fruit works in this story doesn't line up with canon, I want to keep treating it like a more standard Logia Devil Fruit. Partially because I don't want to have to rewrite large parts of the story to accommodate the canon caveats, and partially because I like Jinx777's interpretation of the Fruit and I want to keep playing with their toys.

So for the purposes of this fic, the Dark Dark Fruit functions much like its more standard Logia counterparts. Luffy can change parts of his body into darkness which absorbs attacks and mitigates damage. He can control darkness to a degree (similar to, but not quite the same as, Moria), and he can produce darkness from his body.

The darkness he can create and control functions much like a black hole might. It can be manipulated to pull things toward it, it can be used as a storage space by Luffy (yay Hammer Space!) and attacks can be "pressurized" to have a much higher gravitational pull than they normally would.

His abilities do have a tendency to pull physical attacks and ranged fire toward him, and if he doesn't transform his body in time those attacks will deal more damage to his physical body than usual. But more often than not Luffy manages to change in time to avoid serious injury.

That said, faster, sneakier, or less predictable opponents will be a struggle for Luffy when he is restricted to his less destructive attacks. It's a fact that Luffy could pull an entire island into his Dark World with some effort, and thus kill everyone and everything he absorbs with minimal fuss. But I don't think there would be many reasons that Luffy (even this darker version of him) would feel the need to do that, much less his brothers who act as the breaks for his powers.

I also feel I should add a warning here for newer readers, and for those who don't know just how gritty I can get with my writing style. So...

Trigger Warning and Summary of Events can be found at the bottom of the chapter or in the End Notes.

((And there is a brief fight scene at the start of the chapter that depicts crocs getting ripped up. If that bugs you, maybe skip ahead when he kills the first one…))

Old Authors Note:

Not sure about the ages of the three in the anime, but in this fic they will be like this.Luffy was 8 in the last chapter, making him 13 this chapter.Ace was 10 in the last chapter, making him 15 this chapterSabo was also ten, but a few months older the age, he will still be 15 in this chapter.Luffy will still be his usual hyperactive, random self for the most part. But when he gets serious or pissed off you will see a much more serious and scary side to him. The other straw-hats will also still be in the crew, though I am not sure if I will be adding a few extra or not. I already know two off the top of my head that I am considering, possible three but nothing is set in stone yet.Also the next chapter will not be posted until next Friday now, even if I finish it before then. Trying not to rush posting the chapters, but this one is just my way of saying thanks to all the people that read the first chapter :)XXXDisclaimer: I own nothing:(

New Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters. That honor lies with the Great Goda-Sama (long may he reign)

XXX

Chapter 2- The Day

XXX

Almost 5 Years Later

XXX

Luffy was standing on the bank of a river, staring at the nest of giant crocodiles in front of him with a bored expression on his face. Idly, he kicked the dirt in front of him, and then blew out a sigh.

Luffy had grown quite a bit in the years since he and his brothers had eaten the Devil Fruits. Now standing at a solid 5 feet even, with darkly tanned skin, and a good deal more muscle tone Luffy was an intimidating 12 year old...when he wanted to be at least. Of course, Ace and Sabo had both grown as well, meaning Luffy was still the shortest of the brothers by a good few inches.

Ace was the tallest - courtesy of an early growth spurt - and stood at a respectable 5' 8." And Sabo, to the blondes chagrin, was the middle man at 5' 5" ("and a Half!" "Whatever you say Airhead!") The two eldest brothers had also gained the unfortunate lanky limbs, and awkward proportions, that plagued so many young men. Although the awkwardness was offset by their hard earned muscle, and their steadily broadening shoulders and general size strongly hinted that they would be impressive men once puberty released them from its hold.

All three of the boys had let their hair grow longer over the years as well. Directly opposing their Gramps and his insistence that Marines had neatly trimmed hair and presentable appearances. Sabo's was the longest, with thick blonde waves falling to his shoulders. While both Ace and Luffy had straight hair - just long enough to be called 'shaggy' - with Ace's being slightly longer and messier.

Of course the three boys had their hair covered most of the time by their customary hats. Sabo and Luffy with their top hat and straw hat respectively, and Ace sporting an orange cowboy hat with red beads and a pair of faces at the front - one smiling and the other frowning. Sabo and Luffy had gotten it for him as a present when he turned 13, Luffy insisting that it would ward off bad luck for him. And Ace would never admit how much it had meant to him that his brothers had thought of him like that. He had just hugged them close and let that do the talking for him.

The three boys also kept to familiar habits when it came to their clothes. Sabo still had a taste for the color blue, long coats, button up shirts, and cravats. Ace had, after one too many burned shirts, decided to forgo them entirely. So he just wore shorts, and the occasional open jacket, with his combat boots. And Luffy dressed for comfort above all else, wearing simple but colorful button up vests and shorts with sandals.

One of those sandals dug into the dirt again as their owner let out a quiet groan. Boredom and irritation clearly visible on his face.

Sabo and Ace sat watching their brother from a tree, legs dangling toward the ground carelessly. Sabo held a gold pocket watch in his hand, connected to his breast pocket by a chain. Ace was idly tossing a small ball of fire from hand to hand, his expression just as bored as his little brothers.

Luffy was waiting for his blonde older brother to give him the signal. He was staying mostly out of the crocodile's line of sight, idly working out how many of them he could bring home for dinner in his head. He counted seventeen in all, each one at least twenty feet long from snout to tail, with one who was much bigger than the rest at over thirty feet long.

"Tch!" He quietly scoffed. 'Too easy.'

Glancing back at his brothers in the tree, Luffy shot a pleading (and still bored) look in Sabo's direction.

When he finally got a nod from Sabo, Luffy turned around and started walking towards the nest. His bored expression never left his face and he made no attempt to hide his approach. It was just faster this way, he was getting hungry after all.

One of the crocs noticed him when he was about twenty feet away from the water. And seeing what it thought was easy prey, the crocodile went straight for Luffy, shortly followed by the rest of the bunch.The crocodiles gave the boy their version of a malevolent and toothy grin - which was far toothier than most humans could ever manage - as they started moving towards him, climbing out of the water and snapping their jaws hungrily.

The only one that didn't move from the water was the largest. That one simply eyed him from a distance, its wary gaze proving it was much older and wiser then the younger crocs thinking him an easy meal. It already knew.

If it didn't attack, Luffy would leave it alone.

For this particular training exercise, Ace and Sabo had banned him from using any of his larger scale attacks. Limiting him to smaller ones so they could see how he handled himself. Luffy didn't really mind the limit his brothers gave him - he was often grateful for it in fact - it was just that dealing with such weak animals was boring for him. And a bored Luffy was never a good thing.

As soon as the first croc made it within striking range and attempted to bite his head off, Luffy pointed two fingers at it, his thumb cocked back and his pinky and ring finger tucked in. The croc never knew what hit it. The foolish reptile only felt a cold sensation trail down its gullet and pull. The last thing it heard was a banally uttered,

"Dark Bullet."

Luffy watched impassively as the bullet sized ball of Darkness shot from the tips of his fingers and down the crocs throat, making it stop short and its eyes widen as it seemed to start choking. Less than a second later the sounds of cracking bones, creaking skin, and a low gurgle were heard. The miniature Black Hole tore the animal apart effortlessly, then both it and the carcass disappeared leaving nothing but a small splatter of blood on the ground.

The other crocodiles once again proved their lack of common sense as they ignored what had just happened to the first one. Now visibly pissed off they attempted to swarm Luffy, four moving in to attack at the same time with the others right behind them. Luffy used the heads of the first four as a springboard and jumped above the fray. Then he raised his other hand, fingertips already streaming darkness as he aimed downward.

"Dark Gatling!" he shouted as he let lose a rain of Dark Bullets. The pack of crocs was taken care of in short order, each bullet pulling at their bodies with enough force to tear them apart and consume them.When he landed a short distance away all but four of the original seventeen were gone, leaving nothing but small patches of blood to show they ever existed. Those that were left were now eyeing him fearfully - though they weren't wary enough to back away from the fight.

As a group they moved to attack him once again. The one on Luffy's right made to swipe him away with its tail."Dark Fist." Luffy threw a punch towards the croc, a stream of Darkness with a fist shape at the end leaping from his hand and knocking it away. He quickly followed this with a kick, sending a foot shaped mass of darkness that hit the croc on his left in the head and sent it flying off into the trees.By this point Luffy had lost all interest in the fight.

Darkness covered both his hands before he slammed them down, burying them up to his elbows in the ground at his feet. Mere moments after his hands were out of sight several shadowy fists appeared under the remaining crocs and slammed straight into their stomachs, gutting them effortlessly.

The last crocodile, the largest one that had hung back, gave the boy a look and promptly turned tail and fled further up the river.The sound of a quiet 'click' reached his ears, telling him that Sabo had stopped the stopwatch. When he turned to look at his brothers both were smirking at him.

With a shit-eating grin Sabo spoke up, "17 crocodiles in 13.7 seconds Luffy. Not bad! You managed to beat your old score by 3 crocs and 2.5 seconds." His grin widened as he added, "You're still slower than both of us though."

Ace's current record was 16 crocs in 10.3 seconds while Sabo held the top with 7.9 seconds, a fact that both his brothers loved to rub in his face. Annoyed and pouting childishly at the two, Luffy stamped his foot and whined, "It's not fair! You guys don't let me do any of my cooler moves."

Shaking his head, thoroughly amused, Ace jumped down from his seat on the branch using his fire to slow his decent.

"That's because all your 'cooler' moves would make timing you a moot point. 'Sides, it's not like these crocs are worth the extra effort." He clapped Luffy on the back as he walked past him, meandering toward the riverbank. He was followed soon after by Sabo who pushed off the tree branch and floated over to the other boy, landing lightly on the ground next to Ace while nodding his head in agreement."Ace is right Luffy, none of the animals here are a challenge for any of us anymore. Using more powerful attacks on them would only draw attention to us. And we're still trying to keep a low profile." The blonde commented as he crouched down and idly studied one of the patches of blood left on the dry ground of the riverbank.

Looking over his shoulder and seeing Luffy still pouting, Sabo let out a chuckle before turning away. He twirled the long pipe in his hands absentmindedly as he spoke again."You know, I read about an island in North Blue with animals three times the size of the ones here. Apparently it's uninhabited because they're considered too dangerous and they attack anyone that sets foot on it."While Ace snorted and muttered under his breath about weaklings and stupid civilians who can't fight worth a damn, Sabo's statement caught Luffy's attention. His dark eyes widened and seemed to fill with stars as his excitement rose and he ran over to stand next to his brothers."Really!? That's so cool, can we go there when we set out?"

Ace smirked and pushed the straw hat further down on top of his little brother's head, making the brim cover the younger ravens eyes. "You bet! Can you imagine what animals that size would taste like? No way am I gonna miss the chance to eat 'Giant' giant animals."Setting his hat to rights Luffy's stomach rumbled and he began to drool, making both older teens laugh. Some things never changed.XXXIt was always an odd experience for Luffy when he hid in the darkness to spy on the Goa Kingdom through its many shadows. It felt like being submerged in cold water, only without the drowning. A pervasive sense of pressure was always present when he immersed himself, and Luffy was never sure if he liked or hated the sensation.

He never really understood why Sabo wanted him to spy on them, or why they needed to wait before getting revenge for what had happened five years ago.All Luffy knew, all he needed to know, was that Sabo had asked him to do it.

And Sabo was smart.

So every day, after hunting/training/playing with his brothers, Luffy would spend an hour or two moving through the darkness of Goa Kingdom. Always listening for the 'danger words' on the list Sabo had given him, he had done this every day for five years without fail. And he'd never heard anything quite linked together in the way Sabo and Ace were looking for. Luffy wasn't discouraged though. He knew that sooner or later he would hear what his brothers were waiting for.

And besides, while he was spying Luffy found ways to make his own fun. There were a number of Noble families in Goa who had been trying for years to figure out who was spray-painting walls, knocking over vases, spilling things on priceless rugs, and a myriad of other petty acts of vandalism. Luffy and his brothers had gotten many a laugh out of the youngest boys 'pranks.'

The day he finally heard it Luffy was hiding in a dark corner of the castle - not ten feet away from the King in fact as he sat at his desk reading through his letters. Having watched the man for a few minutes now, Luffy was just about to move on to a different spot when he heard a gasp. Turning back around and peering through the shadows once more, Luffy saw the King on his feet with a large, smarmy, grin on his face as he stared at the letter in his hands.

The expression on the monarchs face gave Luffy a bad feeling, so when the man rushed from the study with the letter in hand, Luffy followed him through the darkness. The King stopped when he entered his throne room, and Luffy took up a spot directly behind the throne as he watched the events unfold.

There were several other people in the room, all of them Nobles that acted as the Kings advisers. Seeing their ruler so excited they all crowded around, curious to hear what news he had to share. In response the king held the letter above his head to show it off like it was the most valuable thing in the world. Judging by what the King said next, the man considered that to be the case."We are being honoured once again by the Noblest of Nobles, a Celestial Dragon! He will be arriving in three weeks!"

The room was suddenly filled with excited chatter, men and women gushing about how illustrious the Celestial Dragons were, and how they would curry favor with them. Luffy just shook his head in disgust from his hiding place. He didn't understand most of the big words the stupid Nobles were using, but he could tell that they were happy about the upcoming visit. And that was enough to make Luffy sick to his...well, not stomach. But something in that general vicinity.

Someone in the group of ecstatic gentry questioned the others, wondering what they were going to do about the Grey Terminal. The King merely scoffed."The same thing we did last time, of course. Burn it to the ground. We cannot allow the Celestial Dragon to see such filth…"Having heard enough, Luffy left with a frown on his face. He quickly made his way to a patch of darkness in the Grey Terminal and slipped into the jungle, then took off running towards the tree house. He might not understand everything that was said, but he knew enough to understand that the 'day' Sabo and Ace were always talking about was coming. And it was coming soon.XXXTwo Weeks, Five Days LaterXXXThey waited until night had come before slowly starting to make their way towards the Goa Kingdom, the three brothers walking side by side with Luffy in the middle. They got some strange looks from around cook fires as they walked through the Grey Terminal. But when people saw the looks on the boys faces, no one dared to approach or say anything to them.This was a special day for the three. One they had been waiting patiently for for years. The fact that it fell on the fifth anniversary of the 'Grey Fire' - as it had come to be called - only made the wait more worth it, and their plans all the sweeter.They had even dressed up for the occasion, at Sabo's insistence.The blonde was wearing a newer version of his usual old-fashioned blue suit, with a black overcoat over top, and brown leather gloves on his hands. His brown leather boots were shined, his steps made no sound as he walked, and he left no footprints. One hand gripped a metal pipe, some small mechanisms clearly visible at both ends of it, and cocked it jauntily over one shoulder. His eyes were cast in shadows by the brim of his hat - enough that it gave him a slightly menacing air. It only added to the already fierce image his scar gave him.

Ace too, had elected to don a suit for the occasion, though his was considerably more business like than Sabo's. It would almost have been conservative if it weren't for the lurid red color of the fabric. He wore the jacket unbuttoned over his chest, and he had foregone a shirt, though he did have on a loosely fastened black necktie. He was also wearing a pair of polished black boots, a black overcoat draped over his right shoulder - in keeping with his messier style - his orange cowboy hat, and he had on a pair of fingerless leather gloves. Like his brother, Ace's eyes were shadowed. A hunting knife was fixed to his right hip, and in his mouth was an unlit cigar he was chewing on the end of.

Luffy stood between his brothers, taking the lead with a steady stride. As always, his straw-hat sat firmly fixed on his head, though he had a rare serious expression on his face as he marched forward. He was wearing a black modern styled suit, with a red shirt and black tie. His jacket was neatly buttoned, he wore polished black boots instead of his usual straw sandals, and he carried no weapon. Instead of an overcoat, he wore an overly large black captains coat with gold trim and epaulettes. All of their clothes had been stolen from the Goa Kingdom over the last two and a half weeks in preparation for this day. Stolen by Luffy more specifically, which was why he had the captains coat, much to the annoyance of his older brothers when he had brought everything back. None of that seemed to matter now though.

They still had to host their little 'going away party,' after all.There were only two ways to get into Goa Kingdom; one was by sailing through the harbor, and the other was passing through the single gate that separated the city slums from the Grey Terminal. From Dawn to Sundown the gate was opened and people could come and go as needed. Allowing the residents of the city in and out, as well as allowing for traders from the few small villages on Dawn Island to pass through.As the trio came to a stop in the empty gap between Goa Kingdom's outer wall and the Grey Terminal's trash heaps, their presence was noticed by the guards standing at the top keeping a lookout. While the guards on the outer wall usually wouldn't be too worried about three teenagers standing around in front of the gate, something about these boys put them all on edge.

Feeling unsettled, the Captain on duty shouted, "Hey! You three! By order of the Guard step away from the gate! If you do not comply we will be forced to remove you by any means necessary!"

When the three figures didn't move the Captain signaled his men to prepare to open fire. Warning shots only to start. By that point people from the Terminal were starting to gather behind the trio to see what they were going to do.

The three brothers ignored the continuing shouts from the guards above, telling them that they would not open the gate until morning and that they should just leave. The warnings from the people behind them that they would be killed if they didn't back off were similarly disregarded. On the wall, hammers cocked back, bullets were loaded, and powder was poured. A few Guards were sickened at what they might be ordered to do, most of them were almost looking forward to it though.Without turning his head, Sabo spoke to Luffy in a casual voice, as if talking about the weather."Luffy remember, just do it like we planned…" The straw-hat's brim dipped ever-so-slightly in a nod.

"Yeah, I know."

Taking out his stopwatch, Sabo nodded back to his brother with his finger on the button, ready when he was.Slowly taking a step backward, away from his brothers, Luffy held his hands out to the side and let them fade into Darkness. All the people watching could only stare, shocked at the sight, none of them knowing what was happening. After all, Devil Fruits were largely thought to be a myth. They would soon learn that some myths were absolutely true.

Luffy slowly started to raise his hands, and then he spoke. His voice was dark, somehow carrying clearly to every person listening."Dark Prison"

The moment the words left his lips Sabo clicked the watch, and Luffy's whole body exploded outwards in a cloud of darkness.All witnessing it could only stare, horrified, as the Darkness that came from Luffy continued to billow out in front of him in a cloud. Within minutes the entirety of Goa Kingdom was sealed in a dome of swirling semi-translucent Darkness cutting it off from the rest of the world. Then, almost as soon as it finished forming, every bit of dirt and stone within the dark shrouded kingdom started floating into the air towards the Darkness above it.After a moment Luffy reappeared from within the darkness, slowly stepping out and back into a solid form, before moving to once again stand with his brothers. Though from a distance it would appear that he was standing strong and that forming the dome didn't affect him, both Sabo and Ace could hear Luffy panting and see the sweat beading his brow.By this point the Guards on the wall had started to fire at the three monstrous teenagers. None of them showed any sign of noticing as the hail of bullets passed through their bodies. The sight caused the Guards to stop firing and - in some cases - seriously contemplate running for their lives. After waiting a moment for Luffy to catch his breath, Sabo stepped forward and placed himself directly in front of the heavy gate of stone and wood that blocked their way."My turn," the blonde said, steam begining to rise from his skin. The smile on his face was pure malice as he brought the pipe in his right hand level with the gate, his left hand gripping around the mechanisms at one end of it while his right firmly gripped the middle. The way he held the pipe was similar to how some swordsmen held their katana. Paying no mind to the now terrified guards, steam rising from his hands, Sabo bent his knees slightly and grit his teeth. With a quick forward thrust and a grunt of effort, a high-powered stream of Steam rushed toward the gate. For a moment before it hit, many could have sworn that they saw the form of an actual train in the Steam before it made contact with the stone."Steam Battering-ram!"For a moment nothing seemed to be happening; the steam shooting out in a constant stream from the teen's pipe at the gate, even as more bullets passed through him.Then it happened.CRACK!

A noise like the sound of a cannon going off filled the air and, as the blonde stopped his attack, one of the solid stone gates crumbled to the ground in pieces. The collective jaws of the guards and Gray Terminal residents watching dropped.

"H-how?!" "What the hell!?!" "He b-broke it down! He didn't even TOUCH it!"

Ignoring the shocked exclamations from around him, Sabo turned on his heel and came to stand with his brothers again. His wicked smirk still firmly in place.

He was actually quite proud of himself. Coming up with that attack and working out all the kinks took him ages - numerous trees and cliff faces around the jungle could attest to that. Sabo had used his steam to find and crawl inside each and every crack in the stone, filling them up until the pressure caused the stone to crumble.By this point the guards were in full blown panic running along the walls and raising alarms, hoping that somebody could stop the three boys attacking the city. The racket they were raising seemed to make the citizens inside the walls finally take notice and realize something was happening.

Sabo could only assume the people still out late at night hadn't noticed the lack of stars in the sky until that point. The first panicked screams from the citizens rang out, and the guards - now having to split themselves between trying to direct people and trying to defend against the three monsters attacking them - were slowly realizing that they were fighting a losing battle. Gritting his teeth the Captain on the wall ordered his men to deal with the citizens and fall back to the wall of High Town.With the way clear for them, the three monsters stepped through the newly "opened" gate and leisurely strolled down the street, ignoring the people running around them panicking. They had no issues with the regular citizens of Goa. They had nothing to do with what had happened five years ago, and most considered the fire to be a tragedy like they did. The brothers did, however, pick off every guard they passed. Ace's knife and Sabo's pipe striking out with efficient brutality, Luffy barely sparing them a glance as they slowly made their way towards the inner wall.By the time the three passed Mid Town, larger objects like barrels and roof tiles were starting to be sucked into the sky, vanishing into the Darkness above. Though oddly enough, the people seemed to be unaffected by the gravity shift. It also seemed like the rate of destruction was speeding up, as when they reached the inner wall the very houses around them had started to crumble, rubble flying into the sky at a fear inspiring rate.Standing outside the sealed gate separating High Town from the rest of Goa, the trio could hear the terrified screaming of the Nobles behind it. There were no guards posted on this wall, after all who would dare attack a Noble household? And none of the men from the outer wall had made it passed the boys. In their arrogance, the fools had only made it easier for the three. Though, even more guards wouldn't have saved them.

Once again stepping forward, Sabo used another Steam Battering-ram to make a section of the wall crumble so they could walk through.

The three brothers were met with a small crowd of terrified Nobles, men and women and (thankfully) very few children. For a moment, nobody moved, nobody spoke, and tension filled the air. Then Ace shot the crowd a nasty smirk around his cigar and brought his left hand up, fingers splayed out.

"Scatter Fire."

With no other warning, a barrage of bullet sized balls of flame launched from his fingertips into the crowd, each one nearly white with heat. Wherever they touched third degree burns appeared, and they did not stop at the surface of the skin either. Not even a minute later, the smell of burning flesh filled the air and the entire group was dead. The smirk fell from Ace's face then, Sabo coming to stand next to him, a hand on his shoulder squeezing briefly before moving ahead of him.

From there the blonde lead the way, using his steam to float over the pile of corpses he continued along the street. Every Noble the trio saw was eliminated. Ace burning through flesh and bone, Sabo firing compressed bullets of air from his pipe, and Luffy's darkness giving every punch and kick he dished out extra power.

They moved from house to house, person to person and looked them in the eyes as they killed them. Many begged for mercy, more tried to buy them off, some even tried to use their Noble status to threaten them. They listened to none of it, steadily purging the city of the stain that was the Nobility as they slowly made their way towards the palace.Ace made sure to set fire to one particular house as they passed, Sabo giving him an honest smile as the ashes joined the rest of the debris that rose into the air. By now the pull was strong enough to rip whole houses free of their foundations, mansions, apartments, and shops disappearing into the darkness - yet people were still unaffected.

As the castle gates came into sight, the three took note of the many Nobles banging on the wooden gate - screaming to be let in - only to be ignored by the Royal Family and their advisors as they hid behind the walls. The crowd was so focused on getting inside none of them even noticed that their death was behind them, patiently waiting to be noticed. It wasn't until Sabo spoke up that the group turned around. And by then it was far too late.

"Good evening to all of you fine ladies and gentlemen!" He enthused sarcastically, "We would like to pass through here, so if you would be so kind as to make way?" The polite expression on his face was at odds with the tight grip he had on his pipe as he pointed it their way.

Without waiting for an answer, Sabo made short work of them, a burst of boiling Steam at their backs slowly cooking the lot of them alive.

The three brothers didn't show a shred of emotion as they stepped over the fresh bodies. Just like before Sabo was able to destroy the gate in front of them with a burst of Steam, even quicker this time as the gate was only made of wood.They marched through the palace, killing everyone they came across, a trail of bodies and blood following in their wake. The servants all lived in Low Town, so they didn't need to worry about unwanted casualties. There were a few more guards now, kept in the palace to protect the royal family, but all of them were cooked alive in their armor by Ace and Sabo before they could even try to move against the trio of invaders.

Eventually they found the Royal family - along with the Noble court, Sabo's parents, and the boy they had replaced him with - cowering in the Throne Room. As the three brothers made their way further into the room the crowd of Nobles became more and more terrified. Every step they took forward the Nobles matched with three steps backward, until the whole crowd - save the King - were pressed against the back wall of the throne room and scrambling to push others in front of them. By chance Sabo's parents ended up at the front of the crowd.

Seeing them again filled Sabo with a rage he hadn't expected to feel. He thought he'd managed to stamp out any feelings he may have had toward them long ago. But looking at the two of them now, seeing no recognition in their eyes as they stared at him, Sabo felt white hot fury twisting through him. And the blonde, ever pragmatic, took the anger he felt and converted it into cold determination and malice.The boys came to a stop in the center of the room, Sabo in the middle with Ace and Luffy at his sides. They all knew that this part of their plan was a bit more personal for the middle brother, and the two ravens were more than happy to let him take the lead for a while. In perfect sync, the three reached up and pulled the hats from their heads in a practiced motion as they gave mocking bows to the King and his court. They also did it in a way that kept their faces mostly in shadow, adding to their menacing appearance and ramping up the Nobles terror a few more notches.Standing straight once more Sabo stepped forward, twirling his pipe around before stopping and leaning against it, he spoke."Your Majesty…esteemed members of the Royal Court, I'm so glad you were able to take the time to meet with us."Despite the words themselves being fairly courteous and polite, all could hear the mocking in the blondes voice as he spoke, making the other two brothers snigger behind him as they moved to lean on columns at either side of the room. Before any of the Nobles could think to respond, Sabo started talking again his hat still shadowing his eyes enough to hide his face. Though all could see most of the scar covering the left side of it, and the viciously mocking smile twisted on his lips."Sorry about all the mess, we all know how much pride you put into being the 'Cleanest Kingdom in the Four Blues,' but it was very important that we meet with you today. You see, my brothers and I," he paused and gestured to the others, "will be leaving soon. And we simply couldn't leave without showing you what we think of you and your Kingdom."The grin on Sabo's face had turned almost demonic by the time he finished, a grin that was perfectly matched by the ones now seen on Ace and Luffy's faces.

It was at this point the King finally found his voice, though it was quite hysterical, his eyes were wide with fear as he shouted."Who, NO...WHAT ARE YOU!? WHAT DO YOU WANT!? WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS TO OUR KINGDOM?!?"His questions were met with three sets of laughter, slightly unhinged and completely malicious, all of which stopped very suddenly when the two boys leaning against the columns moved. Ace came to stand next to Sabo once again, Luffy slowly moving to do the same.Every fearful eye in the room turned to Ace as he was the one to speak this time. His tone and expression growing steadily darker as he said,"Who are we? That's a good question. Five years ago you ordered that a fire be started to rid yourselves of the Stain that is the Grey Terminal, without thought or care for the people forced to live there. You killed thousands with that fire, hundred more with the firing squads on top of the wall picking off anyone trying to reach the city for safety.

Who are we you ask? We are but three of the survivors that witnessed first-hand what you did. What you are planning to do again tomorrow night in fact."The Kings face, along with those of the other Nobles, grew paler and paler by the second as Ace spoke.

Then it was Luffy's turn to speak up. And - despite being the smallest of the trio, despite the fact that he carried no visible weapons on him, despite the fact that his voice sounded so very young - when Luffy spoke he was more terrifying than the other two combined. His voice sounded cold and dead, with quiet echos ringing from it hauntingly.

"You also asked what we want, didn't you?"The Royal family and Nobles watched in mute horror as Luffy raised his right hand, which then started to ooze Darkness like oil as he gripped it into a fist."We want…to send a message."XXXWhen the dome finally fell, after what felt like an eternity for the onlookers, the sight that met the gathered residents of the Grey Terminal left them all in shock.The once sparkling and proud city of Goa was completely, and utterly, gone. Save for a mass of people, the non-noble citizens of the former city. But the moment the dome was gone they had all quickly run to join the people of the Grey Terminal.Nothing else remained. Not a single stone.In the cities place was a barren patch of burned land, several fires still flickering but slowly dying out.And in the middle of it all were the three boys from before, standing in front of a number of wooden crosses planted in the ground around them, and facing the gathered citizens. What truly shocked and horrified the spectators though, was the fact that on each of the crosses a human figure hung - still alive, if only barely. Not only the Royal family, but the King's Noble court. All of them had been beaten to within an inch of their lives before being tied to the crosses.The raven haired boy in the red suit lifted a hand to the still unlit cigar in his mouth almost casually, and with a quick flicker of fire lit the end of it. With a deep drag and a cloud of smoke he turned with his brothers to face the gruesome scene behind him.

Then, without a word, he lifted a burning hand and set fire to the bases of all the crosses. The screams of the dying Nobles filled the air for what seemed like miles around. Smoke rose quickly carrying the sickening scent of charred wood and burning flesh. And in short order the agonized cries petered out, leaving a ringing silence in their wake.Turning their backs once more to the still burning Nobles, Sabo pulled out his stopwatch and clicked it, before smirking."14 minutes, 37.5 seconds. That's a time to beat."

Ace causally burned the numbers into the ground in front of the silent and smouldering corpses. Then all three slowly walked through the quickly parting crowd and the Grey Terminal, and then into the jungle.Before the three disappeared from sight, Ace called over his shoulder at the people watching them."You might want to get a move on. In two days a World Noble will be coming here, expecting to see the Kingdom of Goa in all its shining splendour. You don't want to be here when he arrives…"And just like that, the three vanished into the shadows.XXXThe moment they were out of sight, the brothers started running as fast as they could.Sabo was in the air, blasting steam behind him to keep himself moving forward. He had long since become the fastest of the three after mastering flight and was ahead of his brothers. Ace was using small bursts of fire from his hands and feet, giving him an extra boost in order to jump from branch to branch. He could have moved faster, but it would risk setting the whole forest on fire. Luffy was simply running and jumping from one patch of darkness to another, not slowing or hesitating as he ran into trees or rocks.They had been planning this day for a long time...well, Sabo had at least. Right now, time was everything, and they needed to use as much of it as they could before the World Government came and saw what they did.

While Goa wasn't all that big or important of a Kingdom, it was still part of the World Government and would force them to act.Sabo was the first to reach their destination on the other side of the island from the Goa Kingdom. He was followed by Luffy with Ace, being the slowest of the three while under cover, came last.

The three had already said their goodbyes to everyone on the island, though they didn't tell them what they were going to do - only that they were leaving that night. Ace had practically had to pull Luffy away from Makino, the barmaid not willing to let his little brother go. And despite their best efforts, the boys all felt that she knew what they were planning to do.

Makino knew them all better than they knew themselves sometimes, the green haired barmaid was more perceptive than many gave her credit for. If anybody could figure it out, it would be her. And her parting words to them certainly lent credence to the idea that she knew what they would do...and that she approved.

She'd told them, "You three take care of each other, okay? Don't get yourselves into anything that goes over your heads. And…"she'd bit her lip and hesitated, before adding, "never forget, no matter what you do, no matter why you do it, I will always love and support you three. I know you'll always have a good reason. You boys are like family to me, so be safe. And come home to me again."

Makino had held them tightly then, one last time, and reluctantly let them go. The silhouette of her in the doorway of the bar, watching them walk away, incredibly sad. And truly proud.

Now the three of them stood on a small beach overlooking the sea, the peaceful sound of the waves and gentle moonlight contrasting sharply when compared to the chaos they had left behind them.And there, sat on the sand in the shallows was a small ship.It wasn't much, a simple fishing boat just big enough for the three of them, with a small cabin and a single mast. They planned to get a new ship eventually from South Blue, but until then they would make do with what they had.Not to say Sabo hadn't made a few adjustments to it already. He was no shipwright, but the blonde teen had a way with pipes and steam. Attached to both sides of the ship were large iron pipes in sets of three, all of which curved back and stuck out behind the ship by about three feet. This was so that Sabo could use his Steam to give the Ship a small burst of speed if they didn't have any wind to sail with.None of them said a word as they worked. Even Luffy stayed quiet as the three worked together to get the ship ready and out to sea. In short order they had the sails dropped, the lines tied off, and the anchor weighed.

Sabo had moved below deck to the small room where all the pipes connected together, taking his seat and waiting for the signal. Ace was at the helm, another pipe next to him leading down to the room Sabo was in that they could use to talk. Luffy was simply making sure everything was tied down so it wouldn't be lost when they started moving.The three had long since stocked the ship with both food and water, along with all their belongings and anything else they might need. Sabo had spent years teaching Ace how to navigate, mostly so he wouldn't have to all the time, and because trying to teach Luffy was a lost cause. They even knew where their first destination was going to be, a certain island in North Blue where no one lived for fear of the native animals.But first, they needed to put as much distance between themselves and what was formally the Goa Kingdom as possible.Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Ace turned to the pipe next to him with a grin on his face at the thought of finally starting their adventure."Alright Sabo! Full speed ahead!"Hearing his brother's words, Sabo let his own grin appear and grabbed one pipe in each hand."Right!"Up on deck Luffy was grinning while keeping one hand on his hat, practically shaking with excitement."LET'S GO!"And with that, steam started shooting out of the pipes and was propelling the ship forward and away from their home.

All together, the three brothers shouted.

"SET SAIL!!!"XXX

Endnote Trigger Warnings and Summary of Events

I cover some of the more gruesome things that happen in the chapter so those who wish to skip it can do so.

In this chapter there are graphic descriptions of murder, including burning people to death, the death of children, and crucifixion. Those who do not wish to read these parts stop reading at

"They had nothing to do with what had happened five years ago, and most considered the fire to be a tragedy like they did."

This is the start of the graphic depictions. You can begin reading again at

"14 minutes, 37.5 seconds. That's a time to beat."

Following which is only a very brief mention of dead bodies and the continuation of the chapter.

I would like to note.

Any children the brothers have harmed are older than 8 and thus have already been indoctrinated into their parents way of thinking. Thus the brothers consider them to be just as bad as the parents. If they come across an infant or similar age child they would spare them and likely give them to a family that would adopt them.

The boys in this fic have all been deeply affected by their experience of the Grey Terminal fire. They all possess a darker outlook on the world, they all have very limited patience and a zero-bullshit policy when it comes to bullies, Morganeers, and especially Nobles. All three of the brothers suffer nightmares, PTSD, and mild to severe forms of psychosis because of the trauma they experienced in their early childhood. They all display signs of impaired empathy and extreme violence. (Though these facts won't be too apparent until later on)

Being together and supporting each other the ASL brothers are slightly better mentally than they would be otherwise. They can all help to pull each other back from the brink and keep each other from doing things they regret. Additionally, when interacting with each other, the brothers are more likely to act in their more carefree and simplistic personas as a means of coping and helping each other forget.

Let me know what you think. Reviews are like hugs!

Old Authors Note:

Hope you all like the chapter, I know it was a little dark. They will not act like heartless monster usually, only when something really pisses them off.I am sure there will be people wondering why it was so easy for them to destroy the Kingdom, but the thing to remember is that most people don't even know what a Devil Fruit is in the East Blue. Most people don't even know about Haki until later in the Grand Line, so it is unlikely that anyone would be able to stop them.Now that doesn't mean they will be invincible. As Smoker proved there are weapons that are made with Sea Stone, but for the most part while in the Four Blues they will have little to no trouble before heading to Mock Town.I am planning to do at least one of two more chapter before we reach the original timeline, maybe more depending on how it goes.Also a head up, in his fic all Four Blues are on the same side of the Grand Line, meaning not part of it. Not sure if that is how it works in the Anime but here is does.Anyway let me know what you think :)


End file.
